THE multi-million dollar upgrade of Proctor Park is the final piece in the puzzle for Bathurst’s playing fields.
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Bathurst Regional Council this week called for tenders to rebuild three pitches at the Gormans Hill complex in the most significant step so far in the upgrade.
In all, council has committed more than $7 million to work at Proctor Park to make it one of the premier football venues in the Central West.
And that’s exactly what one of the city’s highest participation sports deserves at a time when other sports are also reaping the benefits of council investment.
Every weekend thousands of men and women, boys and girls strap on the boots for a game of football and many of the local fields struggle to cope with the demand.
And the home of Bathurst football, Proctor Park, has fared worst than most.
Last year we saw Proctor Park go under water for much of the winter season as the region was soaked with flooding rains, making play impossible on many weekends.
This year has seen quite the opposite happening as a near-record dry June has left Proctor Park hard and unforgiving.
So newly laid surfaces and new drainage systems on three of the fields – due to be completed in time for the start of the 2018 season – will be warmly welcomed across the football fraternity.
But the Proctor Park master plan goes much further than that.
The master plan also includes the purchase of 17.6 hectares adjacent to Proctor Park, the sealing of the main car park at the complex, new lighting and amenities rooms, a $3 million development of the main grandstand, and a new synthetic surface on the number one ground.
Council had initially planned to do that work first but changed its priorities – at the request of Bathurst District Football – to reconstruct the other three fields first.
When it’s all completed, though, Proctor Park will be another quality sporting complex to bring people – and money – into the Bathurst region.
It fits in well with council’s “visitor economy” focus and will sit alongside new rugby union, rugby league, harness racing and BMX complexes and an upgrade of Carrington Park. And that’s all before we talk about Mount Panorama and Velocity Park.
You have to spend money to make money and Bathurst Regional Council has really opened the purse strings.
Now it’s a matter of reaping the benefits.